I’m a convict!
Because I’ve been convicted!
But now I guess I’m an EX con.
A former convict.
No longer a convict.
Not because I’ve done the time.
I didn’t do the time.
Someone else did it for me!
“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment.” (John 16:8)
I’ve been set free.
I’m no longer a prisoner.
Who is this who has done this for me?
Why would He pay for my sin, make me righteous, and so help me to avoid judgment?
Could it be because He loves me?
Yes. That’s it. He loves me.
Jesus loves me.
Can I believe it?
Yes. I believe it.

During our men’s Bible study on Monday nights we try to “make real” the stuff we’re learning, so it isn’t just head-knowledge, but gets into our feet, thus into our lives. In doing this we share from our own personal lives and are encouraged to learn that other men are facing some of the questions we each seem to have.

Sometimes “the light goes on” and Epiphany happens, but much of the time the questions pile up without answer and we have to just move on, waiting for later. People aren’t very good at this kind of waiting. We’re impatient. If we don’t get a quick fix we tend to leave the issue, because the frustration is worse than just not knowing.

Faith, you see, is a constant learning issue.

Over the years, two statements about Faith have developed and seem to be deeply ingrained into not only our culture, but also our spiritual walk. “Blind faith,” and “Leap of faith.”

Is faith really blind? Can it be? Would you really jump off a cliff to “prove” you believed? I think not.

What I think God wants from us, and what I know the Bible does for us as we read, is to develop our faith. Working together they take the “seed of faith” we are born with and nurture it and feed it and grow it. This, then, develops in us not a “blind” faith, but a CONFIDENT faith! A faith that trusts in God Almighty, AS the Almighty, and exercises those muscles of faith into maturity, strength, endurance, and everything else we need for a dynamic relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfector of our faith!

If one is really in tune with how and where Jesus is leading, then one doesn’t need to take any “leaps of faith into the unknown,” because one will KNOW what one is to do. This is the essence of relationship, isn’t it? This is the benefit of actually being IN Christ; recognizing not only Him, but where He is and what He is doing and what He is asking.

I suppose one could say “I’m willing to take this leap, because I trust in God and know that He will save me.” Fine. But I think it is much healthier to say “I’m doing such and such because God has spoken to me.”

There’s an old joke about a guy trying to walk on water, after watching Jesus do it, and immediately sinking. An angel says to another angel, “Should we tell him where the rocks are?” Ok, it’s not a very funny joke, but it does make a point. Jesus KNOWS where the rocks are! So we can choose to run and sink on our own, or to wait for Him to reveal to us “the path.”
Choose faith, but develop Confident faith, and the frustrations will minimize…

Why are we so stubborn when it comes to God Almighty?
Why are we so selfish?
Do we just have it too good? Are we just spoiled … rotten?
Do we not suffer enough to BE dependent?

I’m asking all these questions, and many more, because I am trying to answer a greater question: “What kind of God is this that we say we believe in?”

What kind of God would create and then destroy? What kind of God would say He loves us and then kill us?

Should we search for a different God? A better God?

One who would do what WE want???? A god we could control with sacrifices and worship.

In 2,017 years since Christ’s resurrection, have we forgotten faith itself? The faith that says God will keep His promises, if we will obey Him, follow Him, and serve Him?

Have we lost the zeal of the new disciple? Those who were blinded to this world by being exposed to the world to come?

Have we lost the adventure, the excitement, the expectation….the very wonder of it all? To see God Almighty at work!!!!
Are we just bored? (means to weary by dullness and repetition)

If our lives are dull and repetitive, are we even following God? Or have we somehow gotten off on a different path, not of His choosing, but of ours?

If we pray for revival, are we ready to accept that God may shake the place up, and make a lot of changes? Will we even know it if He comes?

“Our God is an awesome God…” the song goes, and He comes to set the captives FREE. Free from boredom. Free from bondage. Free from the temptation of trying to tell God what to do. Free TO the exciting journey of faith and the experience of living a life of service to Him. What a ride!

Temptation? How to face it and how to beat it!!!

Ok, so I like cars. I’d love to spend a LOT of money and buy a very expensive one. This, of course, would cause me to feel really guilty, knowing that the money could have been used so much better otherwise, especially if I asked God about it! Not that God doesn’t want to Bless us, just that the tempter is also at work and we need to be careful! So, I go to the car show, have a good couple of hours lusting after them, beat down the monster, and go home victorious … without a car! Then, on Sunday, I can rejoice ever more with the Lord as I give my offering cheerfully and free of guilt. Win/win for ministry and me, lose/lose for the enemy and his tempters.

Here, then, is a spiritual blog about the show:

The 2017 Portland Auto Show … of the Nations: (Canada), Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, (Mexico), Sweden, United Kingdom, United States! Canada and Mexico listed as manufacturing countries, but not branded by such. (This may be an incomplete listing but is the most obvious to the casual observer).

All these industrialized nations competing for a piece of the U.S.A. market is a good thing for us, I think, as the cars being made today all seem vastly superior to the ones I grew up with, made mostly here! I can’t think of a U.S. made car in the 60’s or 70’s that holds a candle to any of today’s makes from any of the countries listed.

My personal rating system this year contains 3 elements, which would easily be changed by any other person looking at the same cars I did. This is because cars have become so personal, not to mention so diverse in engineering, design, and features. Still, here is my analysis:

1. My first Element does not consider the ‘type’ of car, meaning sedan, SUV, van, etc. Rather, I focus on the cabin. The cabin of the automobile has become a cockpit. It is no longer the place you just steer the car from, but now where you operate and entire assortment of technologies. This means, of course, that the more technologies you put IN the cockpit the more variables you introduce into how that cockpit operates. My favorite excelled in cockpit feel and look. I wish I could say how it performed but I didn’t try it out. Will work on that.
2. Before you laugh at my number 2 element, think about it for a moment: cup holder placement. Too many cars treat this as an after-thought, when everyone I know drinks beverages while they are in the car! A poorly placed cup holder is dangerous in addition to being annoying. Considering the time we spend in our cars now and the food we eat in them, this is both practical AND a safety item!
3. Value is my 3rd element, and probably the main reason you buy a certain car once you’ve decided upon ‘type.’ Value is also personal, not just financial. Some of us simply will not buy a car if it doesn’t have certain features, so comparing feature-sets is essential to comparing value. The car manufacturers excel at feature-set escalation! Meaning, they know just how to tempt you UP the ladder of features, appealing to every perceived need, and then creating new ones! My newest must-have is Adaptive Cruise Control, which is ‘set and forget’ technology offered by everyone now. Not only is it convenient, but it improves safety, and for those of us driving Interstate 5 so very appreciated.

My picks:

1. Jaguar XF Sport. A great combination of features into a platform of elegance and distinction, priced below $50,000!
2. Almost tied for first, the Volvo V70. Their European Delivery program may tip the scales to buying this one over the Jag, but then again, the Jag is, well, a Jag!
3. A car I would actually buy is the Subaru Impreza, all new for this year. Lots of goodies in this package, and you can almost buy 2 of them for 1 Jaguar!

Being able to go to the auto show while most folks are working is quite a luxury. At 10 am on a Friday most of the attendees were of the Senior variety so the actual looking and sitting in the cars moved along slowly! The men were mostly interested in power and technology, while the women seemed most interested in color, style, and comfort. Since the manufacturers know all this they play to our weaknesses and make most of the displayed cars powerful and pretty! That said, there was actually a more impressive Number 1 vehicle at this show: The US Army had some kind of enormous vehicle, not a small-ish Humvee, that was incredible, AND pulled a 105mm Howitzer cannon behind it. This thing can stop and set up the cannon in 5 minutes and hit a target 40 miles away with laser/satellite guidance, meaning, the Sgt. told me, he can put the shell in your window! I asked him what the turret thing on top was meant to hold, knowing it had a bracket for some kind of weapon. He told me it was classified Top Secret … Go Army! Win! And, thank you for your service!

After reading in Genesis and ‘seeing’ all the deception that took place in the lives of people, and then going to the book of Exodus and reading about more and more deception, well, it’s pretty clear this is a topic God wants us to be aware of.

None of us likes being deceived. We now have an ‘almost epidemic’ with what is called ‘identity theft,’ which, when you think about it, is personal deception at its worst because not only are we deceived, but the ‘stolen we’ are then used over and over to deceive others.

A friend wrote to me about being helped this week just by having the veil pulled off, and being able to more clearly see how powerful the work of the enemy is. The goal of the enemy is to defeat us, and the strategy is often by way of confusion, and the tactic is often deceit. Do you follow this?

I found myself writing back: “As much as I hate being fooled, tricked, and had by some scammer, I have to face the fact that I am the one being deceived! And it probably is possible because of some root in me that is not ‘pruned’ to God. And this betrays another issue; that I don’t ‘like’ being pruned!!!! It just gets better and better, this walk with Jesus!!!!”

Can we choose to be pruned? Can we surrender to pruning? Or are we so stuck in the ways of this world that we simply have to depend upon God to do the pruning, whether we are aware of it at the time or not? Yes, we can depend upon God, and yes, it’s better to volunteer first.

Dear Dayspring: It’s Jan 3 and I’m rollin’! Ok, no side comments about my roll, just try to keep up with the direction here!

It’s a New Year, but for many it’s the same ol’ stuff over and over. Some folks are ‘stuck’ in situations and can’t seem to get un-stuck. You’ve got yours and I’ve got mine, and we learn to just move along anyway and sort of agree not to ‘go there.’

But Jesus Christ comes to change things. He comes to save, of course, but He also comes to heal and to deliver and to lead and to shine light, and to do whatever else needs to be done IN OUR LIVES.

If you wish to participate, check out the attached 10 Questions and let me know your responses, by return email or by letter. It’s just a beginning, but, after all, that’s where everything starts! “In the beginning….”

A New Year’s Review – 2017 – 10 Questions
As you read the following, please take some time to answer the questions before moving along to the next, as it will be more meaningful to you. Maybe even write out some short comments to help anchor your process of thinking this through.

1. What is your view of humanity?
2. What is your actual perception of humanity, which means humans, which ultimately means you!?
3. Is your view of humanity high or low?

Ok, by now you’re read 3 questions and probably not written anything down. You have opinions about this stuff and you know what you feel. Terrific. Now see if you can put them on paper…BEFORE going on to the next questions.

4. Are you good or bad?
5. Who made you?
6. Did your Maker make you good or bad?

Ok, you just read 3 more questions. Did you stop to write anything down? Why not?

7. Have you inherited anything from your Maker?
8. What?
9. Was the incarnation (Jesus becoming flesh) a step down for God?
10. Why or why not?

Would you be willing to send me your thoughts? Those answers to the above? Obviously there is no right or wrong to how you feel, but it may reveal some things.

Love to you,
Pastor Skip

What can be said that hasn’t been said already about Christmas?

Maybe that’s the wrong question. Maybe we should just review ALL that’s been said and try to get it deep into our own spirits, and ask why we have such a hard time living it!???

Was Jesus Christ really born in Bethlehem? Did wise men really come and meet him? Did Jesus grow and become the Sacrifice for our sins and rise from the dead and go to his Father and send us the Holy Spirit and call US to follow him too and empower us and comfort us and provide for us and lead us and BE the subject matter for the entire New Testament, not to mention YOUR testament!?

Oh my, there are so many things we can remember, and SHOULD remember, to encourage us and strengthen us for daily stuff.

You need it, don’t you? Encouragement. Strength. Guidance. Forgiveness.

Add your own, customized list of needs, and see if Jesus Christ speaks to them, answers them, and offers a way to resolve each and every one.

What a gift!

God. Himself. For us.

Christ-mass.

Be Merry.

It’s Christmas time, which means we’re all busy with the gift-giving thing. This can be really cool or really horrible. Carol and I have a large family, which means we are really very Blessed, but it also means we have to, uh …, think about gifts in a financial way we don’t like. It causes me to wonder:
What is Value?
What is it to be Valuable?
Are we losing the understanding?

We usually determine value by what something costs. Whether it costs money or time and energy, the more we have to put into a thing the more value we probably ascribe to it. The less it costs us the more apt we are to disregard it or abuse it, even discard it.

In business they talk about the ‘cost/benefit analysis’ to decide what to invest in or what project to take on. We all do this, I think, in our daily lives of going here and there and making decisions on the fly, as we must. We have this instant analysis going on inside us, cost vs benefit, with ‘me’ at the center. We can’t help it. Our ‘selves’ demand that we take care of them and get the best outcome we can.

We get really irritated when someone abuses our stuff. That’s why we don’t like to loan out things, right? When someone treats as ‘low value’ what another thinks is ‘high value’ we have relationship problems. People just value things differently. Some folks take great care of their car, for example, while others just drive ‘em and don’t pay much attention to maintenance. Some folks keep their houses clean and tidy, and others just live in ‘em and have no concern about order or vacuuming.

This is all very well on an individual basis, but not so good when involving others, because others have different opinions, and here is where the relationship issues happen.

So, what is YOUR value to God? Does He value you? Does He care about you? Did you cost Him anything? Is He trying to maintain you in any way? Are you taking care of His child … you? Are you nurturing His desire for relationship? Are you listening when He whispers His love for you?

And, what is your value of others?

Good things to ponder this Christmas, as we think about the VALUE of GIFTS given, to us … this day … a child was born … to save the world!

Here are 10 things I took away from Amanda’s message on September 4th:

1. God has proved faithful when I said “yes” to Him.
2. Fear keeps you from doing things.
3. If you don’t say “yes” to Him, He will go to someone else.
4. From the Voice: Looking for a Lion, John saw the Lamb!
5. So? So worship!
6. Worry? Choose worship!
   Fear? Choose faith!
   Remember who your God is! (communion)
7. Worship releases faith in the soul.
8. God will spare you from the pain, or, He will bring you through the pain!
9. We’re not here just to live and then die. We’re here to live and see Jesus, and then see Him again.
10. The struggle will be worth it!

-Skip

On a walk today Carol and I were having a good chat, talking about ‘why do we like to walk?,’ Skip says “It gives us time. Time to talk things thru. Time to think. Time to be together.”

“In fact, it gives a person time to live.” Hearing his own words, Skip thinks he’s just landed on a great sermon topic, until Carol takes it higher:

Carol says “Most people are too busy looking at how other people live.”

Think about it. We watch sports, and how athletes live, perhaps longing ourselves to do what they do. We watch movies, and live vicariously through the actors and the great places they take us to. In magazines we read about the lives of others, often going deeper into their lives than we do our own. We go to concerts and watch others make music. The entire industry of celebrities is about other people’s lives. You get it? Sure you do.

Why not begin to live yourself? Why not take the time to … live? Why not go where they go, or at least go somewhere!? Why not make your own music? Why not take on the impossible and see what happens? All that can happen is what some call failure; but then again something wonderful may happen, something miraculous, something God may cause, making some impossible thing … possible.

Walking does give one a time to think things thru. And it doesn’t cost anything, except the forfeiture of all the busy-ness you replaced by taking the walk! It’s great for a marriage. It’s a fantastic thing to take the time to be together, talking about realities in life, but also about dreams. In fact, we often DISCOVER one another’s dreams during a walk. It can give a husband a profound and new understanding of what he could provide his wife, and it can give a wife a profound and new understanding of how she can support and respect her husband.

See? The sermons just keep rolling …